


will u pokemon go out with me?

by avenging_cap



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Characters Playing Pokemon GO, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Serum Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 20:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7905928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avenging_cap/pseuds/avenging_cap
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky's been avoiding Steve, but when his favorite Pokemon shows up in what turns out to be Steve's backyard, Bucky can't resist the pull of his old friendship. And finding the Pokemon, of course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	will u pokemon go out with me?

**Author's Note:**

> this takes place in an au after civil war in which bucky never goes back under the ice, but instead goes into hiding. he doesn’t even tell steve where he is, but promises to keep in touch. he immediately breaks that promise, however, on the grounds that he’s afraid he could hurt steve.  
> inspired by [this post](http://avenging-cap.tumblr.com/post/147194800175/invinciblelronman-theres-a-super-rare-pokemon) by [bromanov](http://bromanov.tumblr.com/) ((new url from the original in the post))

_you’ve got to be kidding me,_  bucky thought, glaring down at his phone screen. _why does the bulbasaur have to be in someone else’s backyard?_

after much internal struggle, bucky was hesitantly walking up the steps to the house when suddenly a thought made him pause halfway. what if someone recognized him? was all this really worth a pokemon? of course it was. 

so bucky continued up the steps to the house with an american flag flying proudly on the porch. as he approached the door, he noticed that there were two stickers on the it, one reading “support our troops” and the other “freedom is not free.” _tell me about it,_ he groaned.

the situation only got worse when bucky rang the doorbell and the opening of the national anthem began to play.

 _really? the star spangled banner is your doorbell?_ bucky thought, _this has got to be some old veteran’s house._

he turned away, ready to walk back down the steps and away from the patriotic house when a familiar voice made him stop in his tracks.

“bucky? is that you?” the voice asked hesitantly.

there he was. _steve_. bucky would never admit it, but steve was probably the only person he wanted to see right now. whenever bucky felt lonely and guilty, it was steve he longed for. but he couldn’t bear the thought of hurting him, so he never reached out. and now steve was standing in front of him.

“steve…” was all bucky could manage to say in his shock.

“how did you find me?” steve knit his eyebrows together in confusion.

“i saw a pokemon in your backyard and i wanted to find it so i figured i’d ask you..or the person who lives here i mean..if i could go catch it but i figured an old man lived here so i was just going to leave but i just really want the pokemon in your backyard.” bucky spoke much too fast, but steve only laughed.

“what kind is it? let me grab my phone and i’ll go find it with you. come in and wait.” he smiled, opening the door wider. 

“uh, yeah thanks. it’s a bulbasaur.” bucky mumbled.

“a bulbasaur!” steve’s eyes lit up. “my favorite!”

“mine too,” bucky managed a smile and watched steve walk up the stairs. 

bucky looked around the house; it was simply decorated with few personal touches. except for a lone picture frame on the coffee table; a photo of bucky and steve from the good old days. bucky picked it up and felt a familiar surge of feelings for steve. bucky had always had small feelings for him, and they had escalated into something more in their time apart. but steve liked peggy’s niece (whose name bucky did not care to remember) so he shoved the feelings down. 

just as he put down the frame, steve returned, wearing a hoodie, sweats, and a captain america baseball hat.

“your place is _really_  nice,” bucky said awkwardly. 

“i figured i needed a good place to lay low for a while. but where have you been?” steve opened the door to his patio. the lawn was lined with red white and blue pinwheels and _another_  american flag.

“lay low? steve this is the most patriotic house ever. it screams ‘captain america lives here.’ also, you’re literally wearing a captain america baseball hat.”

“what? i think it suits me. and the house _is_  a little much, but it’s a good diversion. most of my neighbors think i’m an old man.”

“which you are.”

“well, yeah… but buck, really where have you been?”

“i was in new york for a while, then on a farm somewhere in pennsylvania and now back here in dc.” bucky looked down at his lap. “i haven’t really been staying in one place. i’m just scared someone is going to find me.”

neither one of them spoke for a moment until steve broke the silence: “you said there was a bulbasaur in my yard?”

“oh yeah!” bucky stood up, glad to have a new distraction from the awkwardness in the air. 

so they walked around steve’s yard in pursuit of the pokemon until bucky shouted, “i’ve got it!! i caught the bulbasaur!” he ran a victory lap around the yard before collapsing in the grass.

“i can’t believe that you of all people have the pokemon game,” bucky laughed, turning to steve.

sitting down next to him, steve said, “well, i did miss a lot. and people suggested i get into pokemon and now the game came out…i’m just trying to get used to this world, i guess.”

“i get that. for the longest time, i never knew how much time had passed since the train. i never could have imagined that the world changed this much. i’ve been trying to catch up too, but honestly, sometimes it’s just nice to be hunting pokemon instead of people.”

steve seemed unsure whether or not to laugh, so he just smiled sympathetically. 

“did anything ever happen with you and peggy’s neice?” bucky asked quietly.

“um, no. are you thirsty? why don’t you go sit in one of the chairs while i get some water?” steve stood up quickly.

“yeah.. yeah sure.”

when steve returned, the two sat in silence for a moment, until bucky’s curiosity got the best of him.

“are you sure nothing happened with her?”

“yeah.. i mean i was looking for you a lot, buck. some days all i could talk about was you. one day, she just looked at me and said, ‘steve, have you ever considered that maybe you’re…’” he paused for a moment and looked away. “’maybe you’re in love with him?’ and i realized.. i realized that she was right.”

bucky’s heart dropped in his chest. “took you long enough.”

steve’s eyes were pleading as he said softly, “you know, bucky, you could come stay here with me.”

“i can make it on my own,” despite steve’s seriousness, bucky nearly laughed at the familiar conversation.

“but you don’t have to.” their faces were dangerously close together as steve whispered, “because i’m with you, till the end of the line.”

their lips crashed together with the force of over ninety years of feelings, and it seemed that nothing on earth could pull them apart. that is, until bucky’s phone vibrated and he reluctantly pulled away.

“there’s a pokemon nearby,” he smiled.

“what do you say we go catch some together? maybe you can stay here for a while?” steve’s bright eyes were practically burning holes into bucky’s.

“yeah, that way we can catch ‘em all, _together_.” so bucky and steve stood, and, hand in hand, went off on their search.


End file.
